﻿BIRDS. 
  

  

  89 
  

  

  been 
  a 
  sore 
  temptation 
  to 
  any 
  man, 
  whether 
  a 
  stranger 
  or 
  a 
  

   servant. 
  

  

  In 
  1890 
  Ospreys 
  bred 
  in 
  Rothieniurchus, 
  but 
  not 
  at 
  Loch 
  an 
  

   Eilein. 
  Eggs 
  had 
  been 
  taken 
  at 
  Loch 
  an 
  Eilein 
  and 
  the 
  birds 
  were 
  

   harassed 
  by 
  shouting 
  tourists, 
  waking 
  the 
  echoes 
  of 
  the 
  old 
  castle, 
  

   and 
  the 
  birds 
  therefore 
  shied 
  the 
  place. 
  

  

  In 
  1891 
  the 
  Ospreys 
  certainly 
  did 
  not 
  breed 
  at 
  Loch 
  an 
  Eilein, 
  

   and 
  it 
  would 
  seem 
  that 
  they, 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  other 
  birds 
  of 
  prey, 
  often 
  

   do 
  not 
  use 
  the 
  same 
  nesting-place 
  every 
  season, 
  but 
  only 
  in 
  

   alternate 
  years. 
  In 
  this 
  year, 
  1891, 
  an 
  alternative 
  site 
  was 
  used, 
  

   and 
  the 
  eggs 
  were 
  taken. 
  

  

  In 
  1892 
  we 
  visited 
  this 
  site, 
  and 
  were 
  told 
  that 
  it 
  had 
  not 
  

   been 
  used 
  for 
  ten 
  years 
  ; 
  however, 
  from 
  information 
  we 
  then 
  

   possessed, 
  and 
  from 
  further 
  evidence 
  we 
  were 
  afterwards 
  enabled 
  

   to 
  obtain, 
  we 
  doubted 
  the 
  truth 
  of 
  the 
  statement; 
  for 
  they 
  almost 
  

   certainly 
  bred 
  at 
  this 
  locality 
  in 
  1889, 
  when 
  the 
  eggs 
  were 
  also 
  

   taken, 
  and 
  in 
  which 
  year 
  both 
  birds 
  were 
  seen 
  daily 
  fishing 
  in 
  

   Loch 
  Insh. 
  

  

  In 
  1892 
  we 
  learned 
  that 
  the 
  Ospreys 
  had 
  returned 
  to 
  Loch 
  an 
  

   Eilein 
  ; 
  but 
  later 
  in 
  the 
  same 
  year 
  we 
  heard 
  that 
  they 
  had 
  been 
  

   disturbed 
  there, 
  and 
  had 
  left 
  again. 
  A 
  keeper 
  on 
  the 
  Rothie- 
  

   murchus 
  property 
  had 
  told 
  us, 
  on 
  the 
  15th 
  May, 
  that 
  the 
  nest 
  

   on 
  the 
  Castle 
  had 
  been 
  blown 
  down; 
  but 
  Dunbar 
  and 
  Harvie- 
  

   Brown 
  visited 
  the 
  place 
  on 
  the 
  same 
  day, 
  and 
  saw 
  plenty 
  of 
  nest, 
  

   and 
  one 
  very 
  white 
  Osprey 
  was 
  seen 
  in 
  the 
  distance. 
  It 
  Hew 
  far 
  

   away 
  from 
  water. 
  

  

  There 
  were 
  five 
  or 
  six 
  pairs 
  of 
  Jackdaws 
  in 
  the 
  castle, 
  and 
  we 
  

   saw 
  one 
  pair 
  sitting 
  on 
  the 
  edge 
  of 
  the 
  Osprey's 
  nest. 
  

  

  In 
  May 
  1892 
  we 
  sketched 
  a 
  new 
  nest 
  in 
  an 
  old 
  pine, 
  emptied, 
  

   however, 
  of 
  its 
  contents 
  — 
  we 
  believe, 
  that 
  very 
  morning 
  t 
  — 
  and 
  

   a 
  dropped 
  tell-tale 
  first 
  primary 
  feather, 
  now 
  in 
  our 
  possession, 
  

   picked 
  up 
  beneath 
  the 
  tree, 
  with 
  shot-shattered 
  web, 
  and 
  seared 
  

   mark 
  along 
  the 
  inner 
  web 
  of 
  the 
  feather 
  — 
  alas 
  ! 
  — 
  told 
  a 
  miserable 
  

   tale 
  to 
  our 
  senses, 
  all 
  alive 
  as 
  they 
  were, 
  for 
  impressions, 
  in 
  the 
  

   interest 
  of 
  the 
  moment. 
  

  

  On 
  the 
  same 
  day 
  also 
  we 
  visited 
  another 
  old 
  nesting 
  site 
  

   far 
  removed 
  from 
  water, 
  placed 
  on 
  the 
  top 
  of 
  a 
  wind-bent 
  pine 
  

   amongst 
  tangled 
  heather 
  and 
  juniper, 
  at 
  which 
  a 
  considerable 
  

   remnant 
  of 
  the 
  nest 
  was 
  still 
  visible. 
  We 
  made 
  a 
  rough 
  sketch 
  

  

  